Sunil Chhetri Retires: A Legendary Journey in Indian Football

Sunil Chhetri has played his last international match. When Sunil entered the field at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, the stadium was echoing with his name. Sunil Chhetri's journey with Indian football started in the year 2005. Then he made his debut against Pakistan. Sunil Chhetri also scored a goal in this match. From then till the last match, Sunil Chhetri's journey has been full of many sweet and sour memories. Sunil Chhetri, who started with a goal in the first match, could not repeat that feat in the last match. Despite this, his journey in the Indian football world has been great. A look at some golden moments of Sunil Chhetri's career...

He also scored a hat-trick

Sunil Chhetri made his debut against Pakistan in the year 2005. That match played in Quetta on June 12 was a 1-1 draw. Chhetri scored a goal in that match. In the year 2007, the Indian football team won the Nehru Cup match against Syria. In 2008, he scored a hat-trick in the AFC Challenge Cup final against Tajikistan. In the same year, the Indian football team won the Challenge Cup and qualified for the AFC Asian Cup. In 2011, Sunil Chhetri scored twice. In 2012, the Indian team won the Nehru Cup in the presence of Sunil Chhetri. It defeated Cameroon in the final.

Kept the Indian football team invincible for 13 matches

In 2017, Sunil Chhetri captained India and kept the team invincible for 13 matches. In the same year, the Indian team also qualified for the Asia Cup. The very next year, i.e. in 2018, Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick. He accomplished this feat against Chinese Taipei in the Intercontinental Cup. In the same year, the star Indian footballer played his 100th match against Kenya. In 2018 itself, Chhetri equaled Lionel Messi's record of 64 goals. In the 2019 Asian Cup, he scored twice against Thailand.

Name after Messi, Ronaldo

In the year 2021, Chhetri made another record. He became the joint sixth highest goal scorer of all time. In the same year, he equaled Messi's tally of 80 goals. In the year 2022, the Indian football team qualified for the Asian Cup. In the same year, Sunil Chhetri became the second highest Asian goal scorer of all time. As of 2023, Chhetri remains the third highest international goal scorer after Messi and Ronaldo.